Of All the Gin Joints
by inomniaparatus01
Summary: [One Shot] Set post series, pre-revival. Rory walks into a pub looking for free wifi, needing to get some work done, she never expected to run into someone from her past.


_Author's note: Hi everyone! It's been awhile! I hope you are all as excited as I am about the upcoming revival! It's only one more week! Can you believe it? After learning more bits and pieces about the revival months ago, I was inspired to write this, as a way that Rory and Logan may reconnect. I guess you could say there are mild (very mild) spoilers for the revival, these spoilers are basically just indicating where Logan lives in the revival. If you don't want to know that, come back and see this in a week. I hope you enjoy this, and please, please, please, let me know what you think of this!_

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 _September 2015, Central London._

Rory Gilmore was a woman on a mission. She had touched down in London approximately four hours prior and promptly discovered that the hotel her editor had her booked into did not offer wifi. Her deadline was approaching and she needed to find somewhere to work, and she needed to find somewhere quickly.

Unsurprisingly, it was cold, and wet. The rain was practically coming down sideways. It was the type of rain that renders an umbrella completely useless. She pulled on her coat collar to try and keep it shut, this coat was water resistant, but it certainly wasn't waterproof. She needed to find somewhere warm, and she needed to find that place fast, she was already beginning to feel like a drowned rat.

Scurrying down the sidewalk, she stumbled upon a quiet looking pub that advertised free wifi. Opening the door, and stepping inside, she released the collar of her coat, and smiled. This place would be perfect, it was warm, cozy, and it appeared that she was the only person here, besides the bartender.

"Sit anywhere you'd like hun" the friendly looking girl with frizzy hair behind the bar grinned.

Rory smiled back and surveyed the place before heading to a booth in the back corner of the pub, next to a roaring fireplace. Yes, she thought. This place would be perfect.

Sliding into the booth, Rory reached into her bag, pulled out her laptop, and her notebook full of research for her article and set to work.

"What can I get for you dear? You look chilled to the bone" the bartender said as she made her way over to see Rory.

Rory thought it was a little funny that she was being referred to as dear, the bartender was easily five years younger than she was, nonetheless, the bartender was right. She was damp and freezing.

"I could kill for a cup of coffee" Rory sighed, "and maybe a menu as well" she added.

"Sure thing, I'll be right back." the bartender told her, and as promised, quickly returned with a steaming cup of coffee and a menu.

Perusing the menu, Rory quickly decided on the roast beef and yorkshire pudding, placing her order and wasting no time getting back into her article.

She had been sent to London, to do a series of articles on the ongoing saga of the idea of Britain separating from the European Union. She had spent much of the flight over, researching, and drafting, her first article was due to her editor by 8pm local time.

Completely immersed in her article, she practically inhaled her meal, along with an additional three cups of coffee, and without realizing how much time has gone by, finished typing two hours later. She finished with exactly thirty minutes to spare. Smiling as she hit the send button, she breathed a sigh of relief, she absolutely hated leaving these things until the last minute.

She glanced over at the bartender, to grab her attention. Rory was tired, it had been a long day, and she wanted nothing more than to head back to her hotel, have a hot shower, and an early bedtime. The bartender was busy mixing a drink, but she gave Rory a nod as if to say I'll be over in a minute.

While she waited, Rory popped onto Facebook, leaving a quick update for her family and friends.

 _Arrived safe and sound in London and big surprise, it's raining._

"Here you go miss." The bartender said as she put a very pink drink down in front of her.

"I didn't order this." Rory said, feeling a little confused.

"No but a very cute gentlemen over yonder asked me to bring this over to you." The bartender explained.

Rory tried to look, but the booth was obstructing her view.

"What is it?" Rory asked.

"Oh shoot, I can't remember what he called it. It was a name… Hmm… It'll come to me. Anyway it's got vodka, pineapple juice, grenadine, champagne, and cherries in it." The bartender said.

Rory felt a shiver run through her entire body. It couldn't be. Could it?

"Anyway, I tried to tell him that it didn't sound all that appetizing, but he insisted it had to be this. So here it is." The bartender said.

"A Rory." Rory said to her, taking a deep breath "it's called a Rory."

"Yes! That's what he called it! Don't feel like you have to drink it though, it doesn't really seem like your type of beverage." The bartender told her.

"No, it's ok. I'll take it. Thanks" Rory smiled timidly.

It couldn't be, could it? It had been almost a decade since she had last seen her ex-boyfriend and almost fiancé. Closing the lid to her laptop, she packed away her work, and needing some liquid courage drank the martini in one swig. Yup, it was still as awful as ever. Knowing there was no time like the present to find out what was going on, she slid out of her booth and made her way across the pub.

As she got closer, she saw that it was indeed, one Logan Huntzberger. For a moment it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. They had parted on such terrible terms, she was surprised he would even want to speak to her, let alone buy her a drink. Taking a moment to steady herself, she decided to try and play it as cool as she could, and walked the remaining twenty feet over to his booth.

"Hey Ace." Logan smiled at her.

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, you had to walk in to mine." Rory smiled at him. Trying hard not to blush at the fact he had called her Ace.

"Your's?" Logan scoffed. "Not so, I'm here at least once a week. Now, are you just going to stand there? Or are you going to take a seat Ace?" Logan asked her with his signature smirk.

Rory felt her cheeks flush, as she sat down, it was pretty awkward of her just to stand there she thought.

"So…" Rory started.

"I can't believe it. I never thought I would see the day, that I rendered Lorelai Leigh Gilmore speechless." Logan grinned.

He wasn't making this easy on her. In fact, she thought he looked pretty smug about the whole thing.

"Soo…" she started again. "You're in London?"

Logan laughed, "yeah, I'm in London. I moved here about three years ago. My powers of observation also see that you are in London. Care to elaborate?"

"Flew in this morning, I'm doing a series of articles on the separatist movement trying to get Britain to leave the European Union for the online magazine I work for." Rory explained.

"Ah yes, what a mess." Logan said.

"Indeed." Rory replied, still at a loss for words. Pausing for a moment to get her bearings, she asked "How've you been?"

"I've been good, I'm loving living in London, life is great." he told her.

"What happened to Palo Alto?" Rory asked.

"Our headquarters is still there, but business grew, and it grew fast. We went national, and then not long after, ended up going international. I was the only single guy, so when the time came to open an overseas office, it fell to me to set it up. I didn't have any real reason to go back, so I ended up staying." Logan told her.

Rory nodded, all of this made complete sense.

"Now, enough about me Ace, what about you?"

"Whew, me? Well I can't say that my life is anywhere near as interesting as yours. To be honest, it's been a rough few years." Rory said, inadvertently allowing tears to start brimming her eyes.

"Rory. What's the matter?" Logan asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing. And Everything. I guess. It's all just so complicated." she sighed.

"To be honest, it goes all the way back to right after I graduated. I was offered an amazing opportunity, Hugo gave me a job working on the Obama campaign. I was offered a whole slew of jobs thanks to my work, but I stayed to work with Hugo out of loyalty. Unfortunately, thanks to the downturn in the economy, Hugo eventually had to let me go, and by then, all the other job offers dried up as well. I managed to get some temp work, here and there, but to be honest, none of it has been fulfilling. I finally managed to pick up something a little more permanent two years ago. I'm writing for an online magazine, but to tell you the truth, I'm losing my love for reporting. This isn't what I envisioned, this isn't what I signed up for." Rory slumped a little in her seat.

"Ah Ace, come on. You're writing is great. It was great when we were at Yale, it's still great now." Logan told her.

"You… You read my work?" Rory asked, looking surprised.

"All the time, to be honest, I have a google alert set up to let me know when your articles are published." Logan said, looking mildly embarrassed.

Rory felt a little flustered. She blushed, not knowing how to respond.

"I know. I know. I'm pathetic. Who follows their ex-girlfriends work that closely?"

Rory smiled. "To be honest, I probably would have done the same thing. I'm a sucker for punishment, maybe even a masochist sometimes."

"Well, I can drink to that." Logan said, waving over the bartender to order another round then turning back to Rory to continue catching up on the last eight years.

Before Rory knew it, several hours had passed and the bartender had notified her and Logan that it was closing time. Rory felt her heart fall, this had been such a great evening, she couldn't believe how fast they had fallen back into their old banter, it felt so… right.

Logan settled up the bill, and Rory grabbed her bag, ready to head out the door. The rain had stopped, but everything was still wet, the cobblestone shining under the streetlights.

Standing facing Logan, trying to figure out something to say, Rory contemplated for a moment.

"Well, Ace, I have to say this was the best surprise I've had in a long time. When I stopped in at the pub tonight, I never thought, I'd be hit with such a moment of serendipity." Logan told her, his brown eyes looking warm and thoughtful.

Rory had no idea what to say to that, so she did the only thing she could think of, and took one step closer, leaned in and kissed him.

It only lasted a moment, pulling back embarrassed.

"Ohmygod. Logan, I'm so so so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I should go, I'm going to need to go dig that hole to China now." Rory said, turning away, ready to take off toward her hotel as quickly as possible, but before she could take more than two steps, a hand grabbed her around the wrist, momentarily causing her to pause. Feeling a pulling sensation on her arm, she turned around to take another look at Logan, who promptly cupped her cheek with his hand, and once again closed the gap between them.

Rory could feel her heart, practically beating out of her chest, her mind racing a mile a minute. Here she was standing on a sidewalk, kissing Logan, quite passionately, her thoughts pointed out to her. They continued to kiss, until the need for oxygen was so great that they needed to break apart. Both breathing heavily, Logan looked at her with lust in his eyes.

"Your place or mine?" Logan whispered, and silently, Rory reached and grabbed his hand, to guide him down the road to her hotel.

 _Fin._


End file.
